Pune Airport Runway Extension: AAI To Conduct OLS Survey After Defence Ministry Approval - Here's All You Need To Know About It

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will conduct an obstacle limitation surface (OLS) survey for the runway expansion at Pune Airport, enabling it to handle widebody planes and expand its international flight network, Murlidhar Mohol, the newly appointed Minister of State (MoS) for Civil Aviation, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) from Pune, informed on Monday evening.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Mohol wrote, "A step closer towards more international flights! The Ministry of Defence today has approved the much-awaited OLS survey for the runway expansion at the Pune Int'l Airport. I thank Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh for this prompt decision in response to my earlier follow-up in this regard."

He added, "In a meeting chaired by the Defence Secretary in the presence of Divisional Commissioner of Pune, a decision was made that the AAI will conduct the OLS survey. Such a survey will enable the runway expansion, allowing large-sized aircraft (typically used for international travel) to fly from Pune!"

Last week, Mohol held a review meeting with Pune Airport Director Santosh Dhoke and Pune Divisional Commissioner Chandrakant Pulkundwar. Several other senior officials of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) were also present. After the meeting, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader took to X and provided details about the discussions during the meeting.

For the runway expansion project, Mohol said 35 acres of land are needed. "Remuneration for this land needs to be given to the landowners for which we have finalised a formula. The formula is that 60% of the amount will be given by the Maharashtra government, 20% by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), and 10% each by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) and Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA)," he said.

What is an OLS survey?

An OLS survey is conducted to identify and map obstacles around an airport, ensuring safe aircraft operations and regulatory compliance. This survey produces detailed maps of protected airspace, preventing interference with takeoff, landing, and manoeuvring. It is especially important for accommodating widebody aircraft, which have larger fuel tanks enabling direct flights to continents like Europe and North America.